Some things are better off line…

November 8, 2010

I was at a Chromeo gig in Tripod, in Dublin last Thursday night. And maybe it’s been a while since I had been to an intimate gig…but it was just brilliant. The band was amazing. Two performers, a funky backdrop of lights, plastic legs on the keyboards and a great fan experience. The place was jammed, and we didn’t have to be there 5 hours in advance to fight our way towards the stage to make out the musicians’ faces.

O2 Blueroom are hosting a private Pixie Lott concert tomorrow night and streaming it live online. 200 competition winners will attend the gig while O2 are charging the unlucky non-attendees €5 to watch it streamed live online….Hmmm…..I’m suspicious of this tactic. What is the uptake of this kind of offer? How many people would enjoy the experience of watching a concert on their laptop, most likely alone?? And on a Tuesday night…?? And the ones that do decide to view the streamed gig, would they bother doing the same again? It just seems to defeat the purpose of a concert to me. It’s a nice brand move – opening the concert up to everyone (for a small fee) – I get it – and great for super hardcore fans who cant physically make it, but will it really take off?

We all know the internet rules the world (exaggeration) and that everything is either digital or mobile and most are both or will be. But I think there is no escaping the physical – the actually being there when something happens, the social gathering that isn’t via Facebook. I am open to change and moving forward, but the best brand moves are still the ones that involve a physical interaction with a customer. The phone call, the hand shake, the then and now, the tripod stamp on your wrist, the singing/dancing with fellow Chromeo fans while your favourite electro-pop band are within reach.